ICT's role in emergency and disaster response

The International Conference on Natural Disasters and Emergency Management (ICNDEM 2015) — billed as the first ICT conference focusing on systems and strategies to manage major emergencies and disasters — has issued a call for papers.

The organisers have invited submissions of interest by 7 September 2015 from potential speakers working in research, academia and relevant ICT products and services.

To be held at the University of National and World Economy in Sofia, Bulgaria, from 4–6 November, ICNDEM 2015 will explore the latest research, innovative approaches and recent experiences in areas such as:

• information systems for emergency preparedness;
• natural disaster risk management and reduction;
• the use of cloud computing, big data and the Internet of Things (IoT) in disaster management;
• communications and mobile technologies in natural disasters;
• crowdsourcing and social media applications for emergency relief;
• natural hazard and vulnerability analysis, and much more.

The general chair of the conference and IFIP vice president, Professor Yuko Murayama of Iwate Prefectural University in Japan, said ICNDEM 2015 will bring together a unique community of ICT professionals, scientists and researchers interested in progressing ways to respond effectively to natural disasters and mitigate their impacts on the community.

“With the increasing incidence of natural disasters around the world, there’s been a growing focus on ways to integrate different information technologies to improve access to information, reduce response times and more effectively target resources to those who need them most,” said Professor Murayama.

“Newer technologies like big data, the Internet of Things, geospatial intelligence and social media all have tremendous potential to improve the way governments and emergency relief agencies plan for and respond to natural disasters as they occur.

“For the first time, this conference will enable those leading the way in research and product development to share their knowledge with other international experts, ultimately leading to new and better breakthroughs in disaster management.”

Organised by the International Federation for Information Processing, a global association of ICT professionals, computer scientists, researchers and academics, ICNDEM 2015 is expected to attract the leading emergency technology experts from around the world.

Image courtesy FEMA.